This invention is generally concerned with apparatus and methods for resurfacing those ice surfaces upon which certain ice sports and/or recreational activities take place e.g., ice hockey games, ice shows, public recreational skating, speed skating contests, ice curling, etc. The need to periodically refurbish/resurface/refinish such ice surfaces arises for various reasons. Not the least of these is the fact that many of these ice surfaces are routinely gouged and pitted by ice skate blades. The cutting action of ice skate blades also tends to create small piles of “snow” that sometimes interfere with certain high skill activities needed for some ice sports e.g., imparting straight travel paths to ice hockey puck shots.
Various machines have been developed over the years to carry out ice refurbishing operations. These machines usually take the form of truck-like vehicles that clean, smooth and resurface an ice rink's gouged and pitted ice surfaces. They were originally developed by Frank J. Zamboni in 1949. Indeed, such a machine is often colloquially referred to as a “Zamboni.” The term Zamboni® is also a registered trademark. Be that as it may, Zamboni resurfacing operations generally start by scraping a top layer of ice from the ice surface being refurbished. Such a top layer of ice is removed to a desired depth (e.g., from about 1/64 to about ¼ inch, with a 1/32 inch cut being very commonly used). The ice shavings created by such scraping operations are taken up by the Zamboni as the operation progresses. A layer of water is also coated on the resulting scraped ice surface just behind the Zamboni's advancing ice scraper blade. This water quickly freezes to form a new, smooth ice surface.
Next, it should be noted that Zambonis are self propelled vehicles that are often equipped with a sled component (also commonly referred to as a “conditioner”) that performs the previously noted functions needed to effectively refurbish gouged and pitted ice surfaces. For example, the sled carries a large, very sharp blade (similar to those used in industrial paper cutters) that shaves a thin layer of ice from the top of the ice surface. An auger located in front of the blade sweeps the resulting ice shavings to the center of the sled where a second auger (or, in some earlier models, a paddle-and-chain conveyor) directs them to an ice shavings dump tank carried by the Zamboni.
A sprinkler pipe and towel system, positioned at the rear end of the sled, are used to lay down a film of clean water that serves to fill any residual grooves in the scraped ice and to form a new ice surface. Hot water (e.g., 140° F. to 160° F.) is frequently used because: (a) its use tends to better melt the blade roughened top surface of the ice and (b) hot water is less viscous than cold water, and therefore more readily spreads over the shaved ice surface. Such water is also often filtered and otherwise treated before it is heated in order to remove minerals and chemicals from locally supplied waters. This is done because such minerals and chemicals tend to detrimentally alter the composition of a new ice layer made from impure waters (e.g., making the resulting new ice relatively more brittle, or more soft, or sometimes even giving it pungent odors). The presence of such impurities also tends to make the resulting new ice layer undesirably “cloudy” or opaque in its visual appearance.
The other components of a Zamboni exist primarily to support those functions carried out by its sled component. For example, a Zamboni's engine (which usually runs on natural gas or propane) or electric motor provides its propulsion (e.g., by use of a four-wheel drive system that is typically used in conjunction with tires having carbide-tipped tire studs). These propulsion creating engines or motors also provide hydraulic power needed to perform other tasks such as raising and lowering the sled. A Zamboni's shaved ice transporting augers are also normally powered by such hydraulic power.
Many Zamboni-type ice resurfacers are also fitted with a board brush (a rotary brush powered by a hydraulic motor) that can be extended from, and retracted to, the left side of these machines by means of a hydraulically powered arm. This brush sweeps and helps gather accumulated bits of loose ice that often accumulate along a hockey rink's dasher boards. The use of such board brushes also generally serves to reduce the need for time-consuming rink edging operations. Nonetheless, the ice surfaces around the edges of ice rinks have a tendency to build up because a Zamboni blade does not normally fully extend beyond the sled's outer edge. This circumstance serves to prevent damage that might otherwise be caused by a Zamboni's moving contact with an ice rink's dasher boards. Consequently, a separate ice edger (a device similar to a rotary lawn mower), is often used to cut down the edges of the ice surface that the ice resurfacer blade does not reach. Ice edgers have not, however, always effectively dealt with the fact that the ice immediately contiguous to the sides of dasher boards tends to build up in ever enlarging bodies of ice having fillet-like cross-sectional configurations. These ice fillets are a special nuisance to the game of ice hockey because they can change the travel path of a hockey puck that is intentionally directed along the side boards of an ice hockey rink. Consequently, many modern Zambonis have tried to integrate edging operations into an overall ice-resurfacing operation. This is done by mounting a secondary, pneumatically controlled, guide and blade system on a side of these machines. Such devices have to date provided varying degrees of ice edging success.
Venerable as they are however, Zamboni-type ice resurfacing machines do have certain inherent limitations and/or drawbacks. Not the least of these follows from the fact that they are wheeled vehicles that are called upon to operate on a literal sheet of ice. Thus they are always confronted with gaining wheel traction on these icy surfaces. Again, to this end, Zambonis are normally provided with four wheel drive systems and studded snow tires. Nonetheless, certain problems inherently arise from the fact that a great deal of force is needed to scrape even a thin layer of ice (e.g., 1/32 inch) from the top of an ice surface over a typical 80 inch width of a Zamboni ice shaving blade. Moreover, those skilled in this art will appreciate that in order to cut to a uniform depth in an ice surface, a great deal of weight must be placed immediately over the Zamboni's ice shaving blade. However, as more and more weight is placed over the blade in order to help it achieve and maintain a desired uniform ice shaving depth, the Zamboni's tires will have a progressively more difficult time gaining traction on the ice surface. Indeed, these opposing, weight over blade vs. wheel traction considerations have, in effect, limited the width of the ice cut that can be made by a given Zamboni blade. For all practical purposes, these blades are limited to about 80 inches in width. This implies a need for over 12 trips (e.g., the 85 ft. width for a National Hockey League-sized rink÷a Zamboni's 80 inch blade width=12.75) up and down the as much as 200 foot length of such an ice hockey playing surface. Consequently, a typical Zamboni based ice hockey rink resurfacing job will take even a very skilled driver from about 10 to about 15 minutes to complete.